Gardner D. Gerry: Recently Added Galleries and Collectionshttp://gdgerry.zenfolio.com/
en-us(C) Gardner D. Gerrygdgerry@comcast.net (Gardner D. Gerry)Wed, 27 Aug 2014 17:12:34 GMTWed, 27 Aug 2014 17:12:34 GMThttp://gdgerry.zenfolio.com/img/s/v-5/u40290633-o44412100-50.jpgGardner D. Gerry: Recently Added Galleries and Collectionshttp://gdgerry.zenfolio.com/
80120Open clustershttp://gdgerry.zenfolio.com/p635328026
]]>An open cluster is a group of up to a few thousand stars that were formed from the same molecular cloud, and are still loosely gravitationally bound to each other. In contrast, globular clusters are very tightly bound by gravity.]]>gdgerry@comcast.net (Gardner D. Gerry)Open clustershttp://gdgerry.zenfolio.com/p635328026Wed, 27 Aug 2014 17:12:34 GMTNew Hamshirehttp://gdgerry.zenfolio.com/p103116058
]]>]]>gdgerry@comcast.net (Gardner D. Gerry)New Hamshirehttp://gdgerry.zenfolio.com/p103116058Fri, 23 May 2014 21:30:07 GMTGalaxieshttp://gdgerry.zenfolio.com/p391672543
]]>A galaxy is a massive, gravitationally bound system that consists of stars and stellar remnants, an interstellar medium of gas and dust, and an important but poorly-understood component tentatively dubbed dark matter. The name is from the Greek root galaxias, meaning "milky," a reference to the Milky Way galaxy. Typical galaxies range from dwarfs with as few as ten million stars up to giants with one trillion stars, all orbiting the galaxy's center of mass.]]>gdgerry@comcast.net (Gardner D. Gerry)Galaxieshttp://gdgerry.zenfolio.com/p391672543Thu, 22 May 2014 03:42:21 GMTNebulaehttp://gdgerry.zenfolio.com/p1004112905
]]>]]>gdgerry@comcast.net (Gardner D. Gerry)Nebulaehttp://gdgerry.zenfolio.com/p1004112905Sun, 23 Feb 2014 15:37:35 GMTEquipmenthttp://gdgerry.zenfolio.com/p907169323
]]>My mount is a Losmandy G-11 Gemini Level 4. It has the "third bearing" upgrade, polar scope, upgraded clutch knobs, upgraded tripod lock levers, the Losmandy One Piece Worm Block, a custom declination spacer made for me by a machinist friend and an 8" Robin Casady saddle plate.

My former mount was a Losmandy GM-8 Gemini Level 4 German Equatorial.

Scopes used to make the photographs on these pages include:

TeleVue TV101 f/5.4

TeleVue TV102 f/8.6

Takahashi FSQ-106N f/5

Stellarvue SV80S LOMO 80/480 f/6 or f/4.8 with reducer

Meade LX90 8" SCT f/10

Celestron C9.25 SCT f/10

My former camera was a Canon 350Da with the Baader UV/IR filter modification which I performed myself. For filters I use the Astronomik EOS CLS clip in light pollution filter and the Astronomik EOS 12nm clip in Hydrogen-alpha filter.

The current camera I am using is a QHY9C cooled ccd camera. It is a one shot color camera. The filter used is the Hutech IDAS LP filter which makes it possible to image from home in the suburbs.

First efforts were with an 8" Meade on my G11 mount and an Imaging Source DBK21 camera.

I now use a Celestron C9.25 and an Imaging Source DBK 21AU618.AS one shot color camera.]]>gdgerry@comcast.net (Gardner D. Gerry)Planetshttp://gdgerry.zenfolio.com/p91266786Sun, 14 Apr 2013 03:24:29 GMTLunarhttp://gdgerry.zenfolio.com/p289304814
]]>]]>gdgerry@comcast.net (Gardner D. Gerry)Lunarhttp://gdgerry.zenfolio.com/p289304814Mon, 24 Sep 2012 13:15:34 GMTVenus Transit 6/5/2012http://gdgerry.zenfolio.com/p90405657
]]>The Venus Transit of 2012. Next time this happens is in 105 1/2 years so I sure didn't want to miss it! Living in New England means it's cloudy a lot, and the week of the Transit was forecast to be cloudy and rainy. So I traveled with a good friend and fellow rabid astrophotographer to upstate New York to the shore of Lake Ontario north of Wolcott, NY. We met a friend who led us to a fantastic location with 180° views of the lake, a perfect view to the northwest where the Sun would be setting and perfect blue clear skies!

The first 5 pictures are of the Sun with Venus at various stages of transit between 1st contact until just after 2nd contact.]]>gdgerry@comcast.net (Gardner D. Gerry)Venus Transit 6/5/2012http://gdgerry.zenfolio.com/p90405657Sat, 09 Jun 2012 16:03:07 GMTGlobular clustershttp://gdgerry.zenfolio.com/p639772013
]]>The short focal length of the SV80S with the 0.8x focal reducer is great for large, expansive targets but not so good at smaller targets like the globular clusters. But I'll shoot them anyway as it does give a feeling of scale to the many objects in our night skies.]]>gdgerry@comcast.net (Gardner D. Gerry)Globular clustershttp://gdgerry.zenfolio.com/p639772013Mon, 14 May 2012 01:37:12 GMTCapture and Processinghttp://gdgerry.zenfolio.com/p1039955913
]]>The capture and processing of the images displayed in my galleries is done with several programs.

I use ImagesPlus 3.80 for stacking and aligning and image calibration.

I also use PixInsight Standard and PhotoShop CS3 for image finishing.

Image capture with the Canon 350D is handled with Backyard EOS.

Long exposures once were only possible through tedious manual guiding with an eye to a guide scope, making manual corrections to the tracking through the entire exposure.

Today technology has relieved the astrophotographer of this task. Now my setup is computer autoguided with a Stellarvue 60mm finder scope with a CCD Labs Q-guide camera attached. The camera is connected to my laptop and to the telescope mount. The software that runs this camera is PHD Guiding. I can easily pick a guide star near my target, calibrate the guider and mount and guide as far as the mount can track with sub-pixel precision.]]>gdgerry@comcast.net (Gardner D. Gerry)Capture and Processinghttp://gdgerry.zenfolio.com/p1039955913Sun, 12 Feb 2012 04:21:51 GMTPublished and Honored Imageshttp://gdgerry.zenfolio.com/p740249375
]]>There are other websites with competitions among imagers on usually a monthly basis. While competition is not my goal, it is nice to see if my skills are improving. Often though, the winners are those lucky enough to have a few good clear nights near the new moon.]]>gdgerry@comcast.net (Gardner D. Gerry)Published and Honored Imageshttp://gdgerry.zenfolio.com/p740249375Sun, 28 Aug 2011 16:28:56 GMTOregon 2008http://gdgerry.zenfolio.com/p251367086
]]>]]>gdgerry@comcast.net (Gardner D. Gerry)Oregon 2008http://gdgerry.zenfolio.com/p251367086Fri, 09 Jul 2010 14:47:23 GMT